


shelter of a tree

by flypaper_brain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Solo loves cats, F/M, Fluff, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-30 00:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15740394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flypaper_brain/pseuds/flypaper_brain
Summary: Ben's mother sends him to the animal shelter with a donation, and he finds more than one thing he didn't know he needed.





	shelter of a tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [persimonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persimonne/gifts).



> This story is a gift for persimonne, who was having a difficult day and asked for fluffy Reylo or cats. I figured 'why not both?' and sent her this anon ask on Tumblr: 
> 
> "Leia sends Ben to the local animal shelter with a donation of old towels and blankets. Rey is the shelter volunteer who greets him at the door. He immediately decides to become a volunteer in order to get to know her better. Ben discovers a love for cats. A snowstorm happens and they both volunteer to stay at the shelter all night to bottle-feed the tiny kittens. In between feedings, Ben lets the kittens climb him like a tree. Rey decides she wants in on it too, and they kiss, covered in kitties." I never intended to turn it into a fic, but here we are!
> 
> Snowstorm hasn't happened yet, but stay tuned -- there are at least two more chapters to come!
> 
> Enormous thanks to my friend and super beta-lady LoveThemFiercely for helping me get unstuck and offering much encouragement.
> 
> persimonne, I hope you enjoy it!

A sad event has brought Ben Solo to the local animal shelter for the first time. His family’s ancient and much beloved shaggy mutt had recently passed away. He left behind, along with many beautiful memories, a house full of dog beds and supplies that needed to find a new home. Ben’s mother, Leia, insisted on packing everything up herself, but delivery of the items fell to him. Ben tried to encourage his mother not to part with everything so soon, that she might want to hang on to it in case she decided to get another dog, but she refused. She’d lost her husband the year before and Chewie had been a lifeline in the time since. Losing Chewie so soon after losing her husband was an enormous blow that she couldn’t bear the thought of repeating. Chewie would be her last dog and she feels at peace with that fact. Ben doesn’t, but he has to let it go.

 

Loading the supplies into the bed of his truck took a lot longer than Ben expected. Apparently, Leia had used this as an opportunity to clean out the attic and every closet in the house and had filled bag upon bag with old bedding and towels to donate to the animal shelter along with Chewie’s things. He sincerely hopes the shelter has a volunteer or four to help unload it all. Ben is dismayed to find only one other car in the parking lot when he pulls into the shelter. This is going to take forever.

 

Grabbing a few bags of old towels, he heads inside to inform the lone staff member that he has a large donation. The information desk is unstaffed, though there is a large cat with oddly curly hair staring at him from a basket perched on top of a nearby bookshelf. There is a bell to get someone’s attention. Ben rings the bell and waits. Getting no response, he rings it again and waits some more, the curly-haired cat staring at his every move. After his third attempt, he gives up waiting and heads toward the animal area, accompanied by the curly-haired cat who has jumped down from her former perch and seems intent on leading him to his destination.

 

“Hello? Is anyone there? I….. have a donation?”, he calls out as he moves toward the back of the facility. He hears a cheerful, slightly accented voice answer from another room.

 

“I’m here! I heard you ringing the bell and I’m sorry I didn’t come right away. I’m here by myself and my hands are really full right now, but I’ll be with you in a few minutes!”

 

Ben follows her voice (as well as the curly-haired cat) down a short hallway, peeking in each door in an attempt to find her. The curly-haired cat has come to a stop by a door labelled “Cats & Kittens” and takes her leave when Ben arrives, heading back to the room out front to continue her guard duty. Looking through the window in the door, he can see the worker sitting in a chair with her back turned towards him, and he can immediately tell that she wasn’t joking about having her hands full. There are kittens everywhere, climbing on everything, including the worker’s back and shoulders, and there’s even one trying to make its way up the dark brown hair piled into a bun on her head. Ben knocks gently before entering, not wanting to scare the woman or risk letting any of the animals escape.

 

“Oh, hello! Please come on in, but watch your step. Kitten playtime got a little out of hand and I’m a bit swamped at the moment. Did you say you had a donation?”, she asks as yet another kitten begins climbing up her leg.

  


He carefully makes his way over to the chair, wishing the whole time that his feet weren’t quite so large and his shoes quite so heavy; he’s terrified of squashing the kittens. He’s been so busy looking at his feet, the floor, and the kittens that when he looks up to answer her question a small gasp escapes his lips when he finally sees the young woman’s face. He desperately hopes that the kittens orbiting her head are noisy enough to have covered up the sound he just made and he tries to come up with something to say before he lets out another strange noise, but he is speechless at the sight of what he is pretty sure is the most beautiful face he’s ever seen.

 

Her sparkling hazel eyes are crinkled at the corners from grinning and her lightly freckled skin is rosy pink. The kitten attempting to climb up her head earlier had successfully taken down her bun and her wavy dark brown hair now hung to her shoulders. But her beauty is not limited to her physical features; this woman’s entire being is radiating a kind of unabashed joy that Ben isn’t sure he’s ever seen in an adult before. He feels inexplicably drawn to her and wills himself to respond. She’s smiling up at him and patiently waiting for him to say something. He blinks at her a few times before finally answering her question. In babble speak.

 

“Uh….donation. I have one, yes. It’s a big one. Well, it’s not actually one big thing, but it’s a lot of small things, well, kind of medium things really. Sheets and towels and blankets and dog beds and stuff. Do you need that stuff? Because I’ve got a lot of it. For you. Wait, not for _you_. For the animals, I mean. Is that ok? Would you like me to start bringing it in? Oh! My name is Ben, by the way. Ben Solo. It’s nice to meet you.”

 

Oh, God. What the fuck is he saying? Ben doesn’t babble. Ever. He takes pride in being careful and precise in everything he does and he just word vomited all over the most captivating person he’s ever encountered. And he doesn’t even know her name. Maybe she won’t notice.

 

Her eyes go a bit wide and her smile falters a bit as she takes it all in. Damn. She noticed.

 

He can’t bear to look at her now. He lowers his eyes to the floor again where two kittens are in the process of shredding his bootlaces.

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Ben. I’m Rey. And now we’re both in a bit of a pickle now, aren’t we?

 

He glances up to find the smile back on her face as she gestures at the activity going on atop his feet. Ben exhales a sigh of relief and wonders how long he’s been holding his breath.  He feels like he might be capable of actual speech now.

 

“It certainly seems like it. Are these guys always so...busy? I’ve always had dogs, but haven’t spent much time with cats.” He crouches down and gingerly touches the white kitten munching on his left bootlace. It seems to enjoy the attention and starts rolling its tiny head around in Ben’s huge palm. “Is it ok if I pick it up?”

 

“Sure you can! Most kittens are fine with being picked up and snuggled. Older cats, not so much, but some of them really like it, too.” Rey is slowly extracting herself from the pile of kittens on her lap and cranes her neck up a bit to see which one Ben has picked up.

 

“Ah, I see Draco has decided to grace you with a snuggle! He’s deaf and can be a little standoffish, but he seems to think very highly of you, Ben. You should feel honored!”

 

Ben, who has never ever held an actual kitten in his life, regards the tiny ball of white fur rolling around in his hands and sends a prayer to the cat gods that nothing bad happens while he’s holding it. The kitten briefly stares back at him with its striking blue eyes before insistently rubbing its head across his fingers to let him know that meet and greet time is over and it would like to get down to some good scritching now, please and thank you. He starts rubbing the kitten’s head and it begins to purr, softly at first, becoming louder the longer he pets it. Drawing the kitten to his chest and bending his head down to better hear the sounds it’s making, Ben finds himself unexpectedly mesmerized by the experience. He thinks he’d like to snuggle this warm, tiny body and listen to its contented sounds for hours.

 

His reverie is eventually broken when he hears Rey ask, “Ben? You okay over there?”

 

Opening his eyes (His eyes were closed? For how long? How many times is he going to embarrass himself today?) to find the chair empty, he looks around the room and finds Rey over in a corner, busy scooping kittens off the floor and putting them back in their kennels. She’s staring at him with a bemused look as she waits for a reply. He’s standing there with a dazed look on his face, mouth slightly open, and clutching the loudly purring kitten to his shoulder like it’s a baby. He knows he should speak, but he can’t find the words. Again. Because of her face. She is grinning at him again and he can’t breathe, much less talk.

 

She lets out a little laugh before tiptoeing over to where Ben is standing, gives his arm a gentle squeeze, and points to Draco with her other hand.

 

“This little guy got you pretty good, huh? It happens to me all the time. It’s really easy to zone out when you’re snuggling a small, warm, furry producer of the most perfect white noise on the planet. I was attempting to do just that before you arrived, but these little ones were more interested in playing than snuggling.” She lets go of Ben’s arm and reaches up to pet the sleeping kitten, who wakes at her touch. “Draco here is a tough nut to crack and I’m a little jealous that he gave you such a long snuggle. You’ll have to teach me your technique sometime.”

 

Ben is pretty sure the spot on his arm where she touched it is about a hundred degrees warmer than the rest of his body and it’s _really_ distracting, but he manages to respond, sounding somewhat bashful.

 

“Ah... maybe he could tell I don’t know what I’m doing and felt bad for me. I gotta admit, he is pretty sweet, even if he did ruin my shoes.”  Recalling what Rey had said about the kitten being deaf triggered a memory of a play he’d been forced to try out for in high school. “You said he’s deaf? Did he get sick or something? Like Helen Keller? From ‘ _The Miracle Worker_ ’?”

 

Damn it. Score another one for being an embarrassing dork. Someday Ben will be able to think about several things at once and only talk about one of them, but it is not this day. He cringes internally and hopes she doesn’t laugh too hard at what he just said.

 

Rey smiles and reaches back up to stroke the kitten’s head. “I was in that play in high school. But to answer your question, no, he’s not deaf due to illness. It’s a congenital loss of hearing that’s really common in white cats with blue eyes. We see a lot of it around here. People are really drawn to their looks but they usually balk at adopting a deaf cat. He’ll definitely have to be an indoor only pet, though; he can’t protect himself outside without his hearing. This little guy might be here a bit longer than his littermates, but the right person will eventually come along.” She takes a long look at Ben interacting with the kitten, her smile widening into a knowing grin.

 

Ben is too busy wrangling the now-fidgety kitten to notice the look on her face. “I hope he doesn’t have to wait very long”, he says as he tries to avoid getting Draco’s claws snagged in his scruffy goatee, “but this seems like a nice place for him to be until he finds a home.” He finally looks at Rey, a silent plea on his face that says ‘I don’t know what to do with this fluffball who is currently trying to maul my chin, PLEASE HELP’.

 

By the time Rey gets her hands on the kitten, it is having the time of its life kneading its paws all over Ben’s face and seems to be especially enjoying the tactile stimulation provided by Ben’s facial hair. She gently takes hold of Draco’s front paws, one of which is currently caught in Ben’s mustache. “Here, let me help you out with that before he breaks the skin. For such a soft little things, their claws are very sharp and I’d hate for those li-- _your_ lips to to get scratched up. Is that okay?” She looks up for permission to continue. Ben meets her eyes, gives a brief nod, and leans down so she can better access his face.

 

He is speechless again, and not just because of the kitten velcroed to his mustache, though it certainly doesn’t help matters. She. Is. Touching. His. Face. She is clearly being as gentle as possible, cupping his chin in one hand as she carefully pulls the wiggly kitten’s toenails out of his facial hair. Ben lets out a sigh as her fingers ghost over his lips she finally pulls the kitten away. He thinks he hears a sigh from her as well, though he figures she’s probably just relieved that the cat made it out of his face with all its claws still intact.

 

He runs his hands through his hair as he tries to come up with something to say that won’t be embarrassing, but he is saved by Rey who exclaims with satisfaction, “There! Now you’re both free. Ben, I’m going to put this little miscreant back in his cage and tidy up a bit. Kitten paws can be pretty dirty and I don’t want to risk you getting some kind of skin infection, so why don’t you go wash your face and meet me back in the front room? Bathroom is right across the hall.” She shoots him a smile before crossing the room with Draco and carefully opening a cage full of his littermates who seem ecstatic to see him.

 

Ben stammers a quick “thanks” before wandering across the hall to the restroom. He examines his face for scratches and doesn’t see any, but gives his mouth and facial hair a good scrub with soap and water. Grabbing a few paper towels, he dries off quickly before heading back to the front room. As he walks, he offers up another prayer to the cat gods that the awkwardness has come to an end and he will be able to function somewhat normally in Rey’s presence from here on out.  Arriving back in the reception room, he sees that the curly-haired cat is back in its basket up on the bookshelf, following his every move with its eyes just as it had earlier. Rey is standing by the door, looking out at his loaded pickup truck and probably wondering how long it’s going to take to unload it all. Hearing him approaching, she turns around and smiles. Again.

 

Before he can say anything, she reaches up and wipes something away from the corner of his mouth. “You missed a little bit of soap there, but it’s gone now. Did you make it through the claw attack unscathed, or did he scar you for life?” she asks in a teasing tone.

 

She just touched him again. How is he supposed to respond to all this touching? With words? He can feel his ears warming up and he hopes they haven’t turned red yet. “Uh, I think I’m good. No blood drawn. But we’re bonded now and I wouldn’t hold it against him if he did.”

 

Rey smiles at that. “Good. He’s one of my favorites. Don’t tell the others.” She put her finger to her own lips.

 

Oh, good. He finally said the right thing. It’s about time.

 

“You did say you have a donation, right? Or were you just visiting to bond with a kitten?” Another teasing smile; she is going to kill him with those.

 

Ben waves his hand vaguely at the bags of towels he brought in earlier. “Um, there’s more outside.”

 

Rey claps her hands and rubs them together. “Brilliant! How about we go out to the parking lot and you can show me the rest? Looks like it might take a while to bring it all in.” She grabs his hand and starts to pull him out the door.

 

Ben offers a silent prayer of thanks to the cat gods and follows her.

**Author's Note:**

> Ben Solo and cats are my two favorite things in the world and writing this was a lot of fun. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one, as well as any cute little headcanons. You can also find me on Tumblr @flypaper-brain. Thanks for reading!


End file.
